Success Expected in Preseason Polls

Local Schools Near Top in Several Leagues

August 17, 2009

With the college season just around the corner, conferences are announcing their preseason polls, and several New England teams are expected to be among the best in the country’s top leagues.

The UConn men’s soccer team is picked second in the Big East Blue Division with 98 points and three first-place votes. The Huskies were 11-5-6 overall in 2008 and posted a 6-3-2 league mark. UConn advanced to its 29th overall and 11th consecutive NCAA tournament last fall.

As an unseeded team in the national tournament, the Huskies earned two straight wins before falling in overtime at Creighton. UConn remained in the national polls all season.

A unanimous selection to the All-Big East preseason team, senior Toni Stahl will lead the midfield for the Huskies this season.

The Providence men are picked fifth out of eight in the Blue Division, for which Notre Dame is expected to be the top team. St. John’s is picked as the top team in the Red Division – both divisions have eight teams.

The UConn women are picked second in the American Division, totaling 104 points, including three first-place votes. The Huskies (7-9-6, 4-3-4 Big East) look to return to the NCAA tournament after missing the field for the first time in the history of the competition last season.

Redshirt senior Brittany Taylor has been named the Preseason Defensive Player of the Year. She also is on the All-Big East preseason team, along with junior midfielder Kacey Richards and senior midfielder Annie Yi. Taylor missed the entire 2008 season due to injury, while Richards was an All-Big East second team pick last year. Yi was a third team selection last year.

West Virginia is predicted to top the American Division; Notre Dame has been picked in the National.

In the ACC, the Boston College women’s team was selected to finish third by the league’s 11 coaches.

The Eagles, 15-6-2 overall and 6-3-1 in the conference last season, return eight starters and will add six incoming freshmen to the 2009 roster.

Boston College was 11th in the final NSCAA Poll in 2008. This season the Eagles open the year at No. 23 in the NSCAA Poll, which was released Aug. 11. The Eagles were one of four teams – along with North Carolina, Florida State and Virginia – earning a spot in the NSCAA Top 25. The Eagles are ninth in the 2009 Preseason TopDrawerSoccer.com Poll, released Aug. 10.

UNC and Florida State, who knocked BC out of the NCAA tournament last year, are picked 1-2 in the ACC.

Meanwhile, the UMass (third) and URI (fifth) men were both voted in the top five in the Atlantic-10 preseason poll. Defending champ Dayton is being tabbed to win the 14-team league again.